The present invention relates to an agricultural mowing apparatus of the reciprocating sickle type and, more particularly, to a trash guard for a sickle-type cutterbar.
The general mode of operation of reciprocating sickle bar mowing apparatus is well known, as is the importance of keeping the cutting components clean and clear of crop buildup. Field operation of the cutting mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,931 (incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) identified a problem whereby crop material was “hair pinning” in the opening of the hold-down where the stud from the stud plate passed through the opening. Such buildup puts the components under undue stress and contributes to untimely misadjustment of the various component relationships. Maintaining component relationships is of significant importance, because, too much clearance allows additional crop material accumulation to force the knife section away from the cutting edges of the guards, greatly reducing cutting efficiency. Too small a clearance results in drag on the sickle bar assembly and a resultant increase in wear rate and power requirements.
The cutting mechanism disclosed in the '931 patent is quite an improvement over the prior art in that it permits easy and accurate adjustment of the various component relationships. However, the buildup mentioned above reduced the value of the ease and accuracy of adjustment by reducing the time that the adjustments were maintained.
It would be advantageous to reduce or eliminate the buildup of crop material and associated difficulties identified above.